Guilt Burdened Life

For most of us, we carry some guilt or other. Some are old memories and some are there in an aspect of our life and work. We pose a question in this article – Is there any single benefit in carrying guilt within us?

While learning from our mistakes is important and we need to correct our attitudes, behaviors and actions accordingly, the feeling of guilt is often useless, harmful and chains us in a recurring way.?

Let’s take a real example. Say long back your friend wanted help. He was unwell and needed some support. You were busy and thus declined. Let’s say with some difficulty he managed the situation. Otherwise, whenever your friend needed support you have been with him like a huge pillar for the last 20 years. Still once in a while guilt strikes you. You feel you have let him down. While the data point is true and you can take care of it in the future, this article makes a proposition – experiencing guilt is a quicksand. We simply lose our precious energy and sense of well-being in that moment.

“We are not built for guilt, and it damages our souls and personalities—even our health.” - Joyce Meyer, Living Beyond Your Feelings

This quote is spot on and sheds light on the core insight. What if we make a resolution to learn from our past but not to experience or re-experience any feelings of guilt? For me personally, I don’t think I will lose anything by refusing to experience guilt feelings. In fact, I think I will be more free, centered, fresh, contributing, caring, giving, etc.

This article inspires you to reflect deeper and make your own choice. If you consciously or sub-consciously still wish to go through feelings of guilts, that’s your choice. If you wish to be free that’s your choice too.

Now, what would be an inner practice for those who wish to be free from guilt?

1. The first step is to recognize that feelings of guilt are beginning to grip you.
2. Second bring your inner will wanting to be free of it.
3. Third reject the feeling of guilt and refuse to experience it within you. You can request the guilt energy to leave your body and be released to a Universal Source where all of this is transformed. Be calm, firm, patient and steady as you hold this will to be free and well.
4. Engage in some other activity to divert you, if needed.

If you wish to look for any learning, my suggestion is not to do it when you are burdened in the guilt state. That will affect your own nature, emotion and energy. Also, the attempt to learn sincerely itself will plummet you often into a guilt state.

Instead, first come free from the guilt. Come to a neutral, normal, and happy state. Then look if there is any learning for you from the situation. If something shows up in your reflection go ahead and correct your attitude, behaviour and action. If you need to request or communicate anything to someone go ahead and do that. Once again make the correction or communication while you are in a neutral state. While you are correcting or communicating if guilt again starts to grip you, reject it.

Through reflection, if you feel that there is no change to make in you, then simply practice being free from guilt when it strikes and experience a new level of joy and happiness in your life.

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Written by Arul Dev , Founder & CEO People First Consultants Pvt. Ltd.